Today’s slow drag is with “Peace in Our Time,” from “Goodbye Cruel World,” released in 1984. The songwriting is credited to a 30-year-old Elvis Costello. I mention his age only to situate the reference: a 30-year-old Englishman writing about an event that had taken place 46 years before, an historical event that took place 16 years before the writer was born. In 1984, Wham requested, “wake me up before you go go.” Tina Turner asked “What’s Love Got to Do with it?” In that same year, Elvis Costello recalled an event from history that, more than 80 years later now, continues to serve as a clarion call and grave reminder that, in the immortal words of another Elvis Costello masterwork, “history repeats the old conceits. The glib replies, the same defeats.” Set to a doleful, steady pulse of piano strikes, this remarkable piece begins: Out of the airplane stepped Chamberlain with a condemned man's stare But we all cheered wildly, a photograph was taken, As he waved a piece of paper in the air Now the Disco Machine lives in Munich and we are all friends And I slip on my Italian dancing shoes as the evening descends Captured in these first five lines is the scene from Heston Aerodrome, September 30, 1928, after the UK Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, returned from “The Munich Agreement,” otherwise known as an appeasement meeting with Nazi Germany’s Hitler and Italy’s Mussolini, where it was agreed that Germany would annex the western part of the then Czechoslovakia. The perils, it seems, of rational brains going up against those with irrational and corrupt intentions. This first verse encapsulates the optimistic yet wildly naïve hope of friendly relations. A disco machine in Munich, Italian dancing shoes. What more information is needed to explain this situation further? It was a situation Chamberlain described as “peace with honor,” ending his speech with, “go home and get a nice quiet sleep.” And the bells take their toll once again in victory chime And we can thank God that we've finally got peace in our time And the bells take their toll. What a charming, devastating, and right on the money double meaning. With the sound of bells comes impending doom, taking their toll on millions upon millions of innocent people. This “victory chime,” history has shown, was a fool’s errand. Neville Chamberlain was succeeded by Churchill, of course, and remains a source of derision by the many who believe he did not adequately prepare for war. This historical episode does not live in a vacuum, nor was it over with VE day, May 8th, 1945. There still remains so many unintended results of the piece of paper that was waved in the air that day. There's a man going round taking names no matter who you claim to be As innocent as babies, a mad dog with rabies, you're still a part of some conspiracy Meanwhile there's a light over the ocean burning brighter than the sun And a man sits alone in a bar and says "Oh God, what have we done?" The looming threat of nuclear annihilation and the scourge of McCarthyism; just two unforeseen consequences of World War II. “My good friends,” Chamberlain said as he greeted the crowd that day. It’s so hard to imagine that he really thought of that as a triumphant diplomatic meeting. There are few words that can overstate these moments of human failure, so Elvis Costello brings it all to a human level. “A man sits alone in a bar and says ‘oh God, what have we done’?” Not “what did they do,” not “what did he do,” but a collective, societal: “Oh, God what have we done.” And the bells take their toll once again in victory chime And we can thank God that we've finally got peace in our time The plaintive way Elvis Costello enunciates “thank God” when he sings it is nearly too much to bear in this context. There is a reason he is called a master. They're lighting a bonfire upon every hilltop in the land (In England) Just another tiny island invaded when he's got the whole world in his hands And the Heavyweight Champion fights in the International Propaganda Star Wars There's already one spaceman in the White House what do you want (the same one again) another one for? There’s an old Tonight Show clip, guest hosted by Joan Rivers, that has Elvis Costello singing this song, just him and his guitar. He sings the song faithfully until he gets to this verse. Then, he changes “upon every hilltop in the land” to “upon every hilltop in England.” When he poses the question of a spaceman in the White House, instead of “whatcha want another for,” he sneers, “whatcha want the same one again for?” It’s surprising and quite worth mentioning how, even though these references are not obscure, they are still somehow oblique enough to remain timeless rather than dated. And the bells take their toll once again in victory chime And we can thank God that we've finally got peace in our time So, I ask you: What would you classify this piece as? It is a protest song? It certainly isn’t championing these events and people, yet, as with so many other deft pieces Elvis Costello pens, he is able to bring it right up to the line, leaving the listener with a measured argument, but without proffering an outright opinion or point of view, just irrefutable glimpses of history that have brought up to where we are now. As for sarcasm, this piece does seem to rely on the device quite heavily, given what we know about peace and how there isn’t much in these lines to confirm the notion of its actual existence. “If it now seems like a relic of those days of anti-nuclear dread,” Elvis Costello wrote about this piece, “then I hope it stays that way.” There is more to this quote, but it is outside of the quote marks, so I’m not sure who it is attributed to: “Let’s all hope that we someday reach a point where the refrain sounds gloriously genuine and not bitterly sarcastic.” I suppose it’s okay to live a world of sarcasm if its intentions are good. With the vestiges of World War 2 still nipping at the heels of the promise of a World War 3, It seems a bit unlikely that “gloriously genuine” will eventually win out in the end. “Peace in Our Time” speaks to so many different times in history, yet one thing remains constant: it’s clear that this is not someone else’s time. Regardless of the actions and decisions of a few, it continues to be “our time.” — Dig it Again, this has been a slow drag with “Peace in our Time” from 1984’s “Goodbye Cruel World.” It’s a cautionary tale, it’s a page out of history, it’s sarcasm and hope doing a balancing act. It’s a gorgeous ballad that brings the listener to the brink of despair, snatching us back with lovely chiming bells and a notion of peace, regardless of how fleeting it might be. Please refer to Episode 6 of “Slow Drag with Remedy,” “Don’t Let Them See You Crying that way,” for a slow drag with another song from “Goodbye Cruel World,” the lovely “Joe Porterhouse.” Both of these pieces are so seemingly world weary and wise, no wonder the album was given this title. It’s rumored that Elvis Costello planned to quit after this. And while the world could have lived off of these 9 studio albums, the world is a much better place for what was and is to come next from Mr. Elvis Costello. So, until next time, adieu, my little ballyhoo. Comments are closed.
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AboutSlow Drag with Remedy is an Elvis Costello podcast appreciation. It's an exploration of linguistics, language, poetry, and clever wordplay as framed by the peerless poetry of the modern-day master, Elvis Costello. Slow Drag by Song
Poor Napoleon Alibi Church Underground The Big Light Georgie and Her Rival Joe Porterhouse No Hiding Place 20% Amnesia All This Useless Beauty Let Him Dangle King of Thieves Damnation's Cellar Stripping Paper Pidgin English Riot Act Bedlam The Quickening Art Luxembourg Chemistry Class Living in Paradise My Mood Swings Waiting for the End of the World Little Atoms Two Little Hitlers Crimes of Paris You Tripped at Every Step Needle Time Men Called Uncle Peace in Our Time The Loved Ones I Almost Had a Weakness Our Little Angel Invasion Hit Parade Turpentine Miracle Man A Voice in the Dark The Greatest Thing Satellite Hand in Hand Clubland Tart Glitter Gulch Stations of the Cross Science Fiction Twin Possession This Sad Burlesque Flutter and Wow Soul for Hire After the Fall Blue Chair Monkey to Man Mouth Almighty Watch Your Step ...This Town... Distorted Angel Worthless Thing No Dancing Miss Macbeth Charm School Poor Fractured Atlas Brilliant Mistake My Little Blue Window Suspect My Tears Coal Train Robberies Fish 'n' Chip Papers I Hope You're Happy Now Man Out of Time 13 Steps Lead Down Go Away Sweet Pear The Name of This Thing is Not Love Jimmie Standing in the Rain The Deportees Club The Birds Will Still Be Singing Starting to Come to Me Pay It Back Five Small Words Pretty Words Radio Silence Human Hands Night Rally I'll Wear It Proudly Motel Matches Drum and Bone Harpies Bizarre Nothing Clings Like Ivy Why Won't Heaven Help Me Next Time 'Round The River in Reverse A Room with No Number Clown Strike The Invisible Man My Most Beautiful Mistake All the Rage The Town Where Time Stood Still Episode of Blonde e of Blonde No Flag A Slow Drag with Josephine That Bridge I Burned Sour Milk Cow Blues You Little Fool Spooky Girlfriend Suit of Lights There's a Story in Your Voice Dishonor The Stars The Other Side of Summer Mischievous Ghost They're Not Laughing at Me Now White Knuckles Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind? Black and White World The World and His Wife
God's Comic The First to Leave Green Shirt The Man You Love to Hate Lip Service American Gangster Time Blame It on Cain The Spell That You Cast Lipstick Vogue The Difference Stella Hurt Tears before Bedtime |